by Thinus Ferreira
7de Laan will restart filming on Thursday on the outstanding 45 episodes to conclude SABC2's cancelled soap after the SABC paid some money this week after the show was forced to shut down production on Monday because of the public broadcaster's failure to pay the massive amount of money owed to the series.
TVwithThinus has reliably learnt that production will resume on Thursday on the 45 episodes left which must be filmed at Sasani Studios before 24 October.
These episodes will keep 7de Laan on the air for its final season on SABC2 which will conclude with the last episode shown on 26 December.
After the SABC decided to cancel the long-running Afrikaans soap in July which is SABC2's second most-watched show on the channel, the cast and crew of Danie Odendaal Productions took a decision to try and make the remainder of the episodes very special but the show got sabotaged by the SABC which failed to pay the massive amount of money due to the production to keep it on the air.
Anxious crew and cast - already stressed about their work and income ending at the end of next month - were plunged into additional anxiety when Danie Odendaal Productions said it's unable to pay them any further since the SABC has not kept up making the payments to its show that it is supposed to.
Making the decision to shutter the show over the weekend after the SABC told the producers last week Monday that it doesn't have any money to pay, meant that the show's production schedule was thrown into turmoil since booked guest actors, artists and others needed for certain days and scenes had to be cancelled and will have to be rescheduled - if it's even possible.
Now the production will gear up to restart filming from Thursday and to try and rework the lost production days and hours of the week and to make up for that in the coming days.
According to industry insiders, while the SABC promised a partial payment this week to the show, a large amount of money is still outstanding, with no indication from the public broadcaster - once again heading to a financial cliff - on when the rest of the outstanding money owed to various production companies and suppliers will be paid.
The SABC didn't respond to a media query made on Tuesday.
Danie Odendaal on Wednesday morning confirmed to TVwithThinus in response to a media query that the show will now restart filming on Thursday.
"After further engagement with the SABC regarding outstanding payments, Danie Odendaal Productions is pleased to announce that although the full amount owed has not yet been settled, there are now sufficient funds to resume production."
"We can confirm that production will recommence on Thursday, 7 September, 2023. The cast and crew are committed to delivering the high-quality content our fans and viewers deserve."
The SABC has not yet published its 2022/2023 financial report but is set to again declare another huge annual loss, this time in excess of R1 billion.
